St. Paul daily globe., 1887-10-23
Lawyers Make Things Lively
in the District Court Room
Now and Then.
How JupieS Are Drawn and
How Men Evade Serving
~ on Them.

= court reporter presents
= for his consideration
A~ many strange kinds of
N1hM> o people.
zSfHIHNSW Commencing any morn
ETEAlNNM9 ing with the municipal
RNtYHI court, which opens at 9
ElQEk1B o'clock, you find it well
WIN filed with very badly
GtfIX~ mixed crowd of men in
nm all stations of life. The
well dressed man Of
business, who is to appear as a wit
ness against some person charged with
forgery, or whose store has been broken
into during the previous night, looks
upon the proceedings of the court, as
the plain drunks and vags are ratified
through and the dock cleared for the
more important criminal cases, as some
thing unworthy of his particular atten-
ton. You will generally find him in
side the railing that separates the court
and its officers from the idlerS or curl
0Sity- seekers, morning paper in hand
He seldom looks up during the monot-
OnOuS 'shve dollars or five days." as the
Fudge dispOSeS of the twenty or thirty
cases which come before him almost
every morning. Then if you look over
in the seats yOu-will see that fellow who
is, with his mouth and ears wide open.
StralnIng every nerve for fear some por-
tiOn of the proceedings may escape
him. He can be seen here every
morning. He seldom misses, not
that he has any personal in
terest in the proceedings or knows
any of the persons who are unfortunate
enough to be defendants, but it is his
hobby. He puts in the forenoon here.
and during the afternoon can be found
buSily engaged in holding up one of the
brick buildings Oh prominent corner.
In the evening, if he can make the
proper arrangements. he will be found
at the varieties behind very bad cigar,
retailing some joke which a wOuld-be
smart witness perpetrated on the assist
ant corporation attorney in the court
that morning for the amusement of a
party of young admirers, who laugh at
his rough and generally vulgar attempts
at repartee. Occasionally this young
man comes to grief, as his constant at
teunance at the court attracts the atten-
ton of the court officers. who prefer
charge of vagrancy against him. and
the varieties miss him for ten or fifteen
days during which time lie is indulging
in bath. shave and hair cut at the
Hotel de Fitzpatrick, on the weed
trimmed shores of Como, in return for
which he does collar and elbow with a
few stumpS on the city farm.
TUESDAY MORNING.
Any Tuesday morning-this being re-
turn day-yOu can find the municipal
court r0Qm filed with civil ligitants and
their attorneys, and the usual grist of
f6fcible entry and detainer suits and
actions brought for the recovery of
an alarming degree of rapidity. This is
the place where the young law student
is seen at his best. and the important air
which some of them assume when adj
dressing Ibis honor in favor of a mo-
ton for Judgment in some case where
the defendant, for lack of defense, has
failed to appear. would answer upon a
much more serious occasion. Seriously
speaking, however, this court is one Of
the most important judicial tribunals.
TO it and the good judgment of the
presiding judge must our citizens look
to large extent for protection against
the criminal classes Its judge must be
good Judge of human nature, and of
retentive memory. The class of persons
who come before him Oh the criminal
side of the court are generally free and
easy takers. who are not at all particu-
lar as to the truth of their statements
while under oath, and are inclined to
furnish any testimony that will be
serviceable to them under existing cir
cumStanceS. In any contested case
there is always wide contradiction in
the testimony. and to properly dissect
it and dispose of the parties is the work
of finely balanced mind. Neighbor-
hood quarrels and spite work are two
prolific causes for the sound discretion
of the judge of the court.
From this court the court reporter
goes to the district court. where a
rather more orderly and better cOndi-
ton of affairs are to be observed. There
is a regularity and system to the pro-
ceedings here that in the hurry and
hustle of the police court cannot be OBJ
served. To dispose of six OF eight cases
day here seems to be considered
good days work. Occasionally two as
plring attorneys will-indulge in war
of words across the table. which is gen.
orally nipped in the bud by the presid-
ing judge. The benches in these
court rooms, of which there are three,
are principally occupied by jurymen,
composed of our best business men,
who once in six months are subject to
this kind of duty and 1T is safe to say
that not one of them is caught at con-
yenient time. 1t may be a matter of
news to most of them to know how they
are drawn.
HOW THEY ARE DRAWN.
For many years the professional jury
system prevailed in this county, in this
way. A venlre for, say forty jurymen,
would be ordered and issued: possibly
out of the forty the sheriff would find
twenty and several Of these would be
exempt from such duty by law. The
sheriff would make his return to the
court and the result would be that there
would no incnfSi nin,,f
ent to transact the business of the court
and special venire would be ordered
for twenty-five men. This would be
given to the sheriff, who would go out
on the street and summon whoever he
saw tit, and he generally had any num-
ber Of applications for such service from
persons either too lazy to do any hard
work or people, who being without
means OF other employment found this
an easy way out Of their unpleasant
situation: this resulted in litigantSl in
the district court facing up about the
same old jury every time they had
business difference to arbitrate. and it
was to avoid this that the law was
changed, as 1t now stands. At such
times as it is found convenient, the four
Judges of the district court, the mayor
of the city and the county assessor meet
together and make up from the direc-
tory, poll lists and their personal acl
quaintance, list of persons who shall
serve as grand and petit jurors, this list,
properly certified, is delivered to the
clerk of the court, who is required to-
write each name upon separate slip.
and place the same in separate en-
velope, these envelopes are then;
placed in a wheel, and as the
court requires jurors, the necessary
number is ordered by the presiding
Judge. and the clerk is required to draw